Two More Casualties from the ‘War on the Military?’

You may recall that I recently wrote an article entitled, “The Thinning of the Military Herd?”
It was an article about a number of high-ranking military officers that
were dismissed by the Obama administration earlier this year.After writing that article, I wanted to dig deeper to determine if
there are other strategies being put into play by the left to “punish
military leaders” or at least to make them wary before carrying out
their duties.Typically, the military is left to carry out its official duties,
particularly those not pertaining to wartime functions, without
interference from either the White House or Congress. However, when
there is an agenda that is being advanced this may not always be the
case.In the re-election campaign, President Obama’s agenda was to vilify
the Republicans for what he deemed as the “war on women.” Obama set out
to destroy the credibility of the Republican Party with female voters
by publicly condemning them for not allowing women to have “free birth
control,” among other things.Obama’s “zero tolerance for sexual assault” in the military appears
to have spawned its own agenda. This time, some Democrats may be using
Obama’s policy as a means to punish the military for what they hope the
American public will see, as the military’s “war on sexual assault
victims.”The message from these Democrats to the military, when it comes to
prosecuting sexual assault cases, is make sure you convict all military
personnel who have a case brought against them or else you may pay with
your career.In 2012, the Pentagon reported that there were 26,000 troops that had
been sexually assaulted and 60 military recruiters and counselors were
dismissed because of the allegations against them. The Pentagon further
reported that these allegations represented a 35% increase since 2010.
Most of the offenses involved incidents from groping to rape.The military had been prosecuting these cases pursuant to the rules
of military justice. However, when two convictions of sexual assault
(out of 26,000) were overturned by high-ranking officers in the
military, some Democratic Senators (and several Republican Senators)
began calling for Congressional hearings.Senator Jackie Speier, a Democrat from California and member of the
Armed Services Committee, jumped into action with other lawmakers and
demanded that a hearing be held immediately.Senator
Claire McCaskill, Democrat from Missouri, was one of the most outspoken
representatives at the hearing. McCaskill called Marine Corps General
James Mattis to the hearing before Congress, demanding to know why a Lt.
Colonel had his sexual assault conviction dropped after a jury found
him guilty. She was referring to Air Force Lt. General Craig Franklin’s
decision to overturn the sexual assault conviction of Air Force Lt.
Col. James Wilkerson, after Franklin decided that the evidence didn’t
warrant a conviction.General Mattis informed McCaskill essentially that a commander had a
right to make such a judgment for “reason.” Mattis was confirming that
Lt. General Franklin had acted within his legal authority to overturn
the conviction.Not
satisfied with General Mattis’ response, McCaskill wrote to the Air
Force Secretary and the Air Force Chief of Staff, stating that
Franklin’s decision “shows ignorance, at best, and malfeasance, at
worst.” She called for swift action against Franklin. In other words,
she wanted him fired. For now, Lt. General Franklin appears to have
been spared his job but it’s still early.Another Air Force Lt. General was not so fortunate. Lt. General
Susan Helms has been blocked by Senator Claire McCaskill, for the last
six months, from being confirmed as vice commander of Space Command, due
to Helms’ decision to overturn a sexual assault conviction of a captain
at a California Air Force base in 2012.Lt. General Helms reported that after studying the conviction record
for five weeks, she could not allow the verdict to stand because the
burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt had not been met.McCaskill was outraged by the decision and has made it her mission,
it appears, to prevent Helms’ promotion. Apparently, since she was
unable to have Lt. General Franklin fired, preventing a promotion for
Lt. General Helms was the next best thing.Both Lt. Generals have the legal responsibility in their positions to
ensure that justice is served under the rules of the military justice
system. A civilian court is also charged with similar responsibilities
in ensuring that justice has been served even if that means overturning a
conviction for failure to meet the burden of proof, lack of evidence,
or a myriad of sanctioned reasons.Senator McCaskill is sending a clear message to the military that
they must get on board with the Democrats’ agenda even if it means
disregarding or violating the rule of law. Failure to comply could
result in the threat of dismissal or the end of advancement in one’s
career, at the very least.Lt.
General Helms had been on a fast track in her exemplary career before
her decision to throw out the conviction. She was the first military
woman in space, having flown aboard the space shuttle Endeavor and flew
on several other space missions, as well. She has logged numerous hours
in space and set a world record when she spacewalked for eight hours and
fifty six minutes.Little did Lt. General Helms know that exercising reasonable judgment
and obeying the rule of law in our current political climate could be a
detriment to her military career. The jury is still out on the outcome
of Lt. General Franklin’s future in the military.————-Susan Knowles is an author, psychotherapist and former practicing
attorney. Her latest book, a political fiction, is entitled, “Freedom’s Fight: A Call to Remember” available on Amazon.com. Her website is susanknowles.com, where this article may also be found.